


Stay [alive] A Little Longer

by bicboy



Category: The Orville
Genre: F/M, Fluff, no she loves him, or appreciates him, or at the very least she admires him, short fic, sorry but Alara is very clearly in love with Ed
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-06
Updated: 2017-10-06
Packaged: 2019-01-09 21:10:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 467
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12284463
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bicboy/pseuds/bicboy
Summary: Alara has a crush on Mercer. That's... obvious.Set directly after S01E04.





	Stay [alive] A Little Longer

**Author's Note:**

> I'm a sucker for Star Trek parodies and I've always gotten a kick out of Seth MacFarlane's humour so naturally I gravitated towards this show right away. It's a shame that no one else has cos I'm a sucker for this ship :'o
> 
> I wrote this because Alara's crush on Mercer is so fucking apparent I can't get over it.

"Hey.."

Once they're back aboard the Orville, Ed stops Alara along one of the corridors. She blinks at him as he looks to the retreating group, mouth gaping with an indecisive syllable hanging in the air between them. Once the coast is clear (Alara checks too, however confused), Ed exhales as words escape him. He settles on a smile. "I'm glad you're alright."

"I know," Alara pips through a matched smile. She puffs up her chest a little, the hands on her hips turning to fists. "But I'm Xelayan, after all. It'd take a lot more than a few bullets to take me down."

Ed lets out a breathy, reluctant laugh. Alara can feel what a human would call a heart miss a few beats in her chest. "Yeah, well, I'm human, and it'd take a lot less to take _me_ down."

Her eyelids flutter at the somewhat appraisal - there's that gratitude again. The kind she seeks in men around her but can only find in him, because he is not _like_ most other men. He is kind and sweet to her, but he still knows what she is capable of. He sees her strength and it makes her beam, her entire being seemingly glowing whenever he graces her with his praise. She finds herself seeking it more and more as their time on the Orville together prolongs. Alara smiles.

"Sorry I didn't ask you how you were earlier," Ed says, eyes moving back and forth between Alara's.

"It's alright," she says quickly, eyebrows furrowing under her forehead ridges. Her plump red lips twitch as she tries not to smile. "We needed to find Kelly. You actually probably could have gotten her first. She's more important." Though the statement had not meant to sound like one of self-loathing, Alara blinks rapidly as Ed takes it as so and his face falls. His mouth opens and shuts like he might rectify her, but Alara inhales sharply and corrects herself. "That's - not what I meant."

"I know," Ed smiles through his fatigue. "But don't think like that. You're a lot more important than you know, Alara." 

Her eyelids flutter when he says her name, but she guises it as turning her gaze to the floor. She hears herself thank him, and he smiles and pats her shoulder. He keeps his hand on her shoulder for a long, lingering moment that makes a swell of warmth collect in her chest. He regards her with soft eyes, her own glittering ones caught on his. Briefly, her eyes fall to his lips and she considers it, considers kissing him. He doesn't seem to register the look because he's shrugging past her, leaving Alara feeling warm and somehow giddy. She watches his retreating back until he turns a corner before smiling to herself.

**Author's Note:**

> There's not a lot of Orville fics out there so if you're apart of this new fandom too it'd be cool to get your input!


End file.
